There is a fairly substantial group of highly disturbed characters at the center of most abusive relationships and who pose the greatest threat to social order. These are the pathological fighters who resist all attempts to socialize them.

The psychopath or predatory aggressive personality knows that he is different from most others (because he knows others posess this entity called conscience and that they have emotional connections to others that keep them from doing certain things) and he thinks he is a superior being to common man because he is not encumbered by these traits. Seeing himself as a superior creature and viewing conscience-laden and emotionally vulnerable others as inferior beings, he regards such underlings as rightful prey.

There is some research coming out of USC that supports much of what I have been saying about lying and the reasons why disordered characters do it – especially when there appears to be no obvious advantage to it.

Readers from across the globe have posted several interesting comments and questions about my articles on the nature of character disturbance.

Personality and character disorders are not the same thing. Our personality defines the stylistic way we tend to interact, while our character is defined by the level of social conscientiousness and virtue in our personality. When personality or character traits present major obstacles to functioning in a healthy way, they might constitute a disorder.